


Art Therapy

by gaialux



Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28677876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaialux/pseuds/gaialux
Summary: Ryan's mom is going to hold an art class.
Relationships: Miguel Alvarez/Ryan O'Reily
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Oz Magi





	Art Therapy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LunaDeSangre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaDeSangre/gifts).



McManus always has these crazy ideas.  
  
Some of them are good, like the guide dog training. Ryan knows Miguel still misses Julie, hasa photo he hides under his pillow and looks at like a lost lover when the reality of prison — _the reality of this fucked up fucking world_ — gets to be too much.  
  
But then you had all the school shit nobody cares about. You’re either preaching to the choir — Ryan happened to do well at school, thank you very much, when he wasn’t skipping it to get high — or trying to teach brickheads their ABCs. Nothing lost, nothing gained, just a whole heap of funds flushed down the shithole.  
  
Now Ryan’s mom is here and McManus has all these grand idea Ryan’s not sure should actually be implemented. He’s a selfish bastard, he knows that, and he wants his mother all to himself. And Cyril, that’s fine; god knows his brother needs all the love slash support slash quality parenting he can get. So Ryan, Cyril, and Mom.  
  
Perfect combination.  
  
Except his mom and McManus are co-conspirators now. Whispering in corners, meeting up for dinner, working on whiteboards together like frantic scientists. Or so Ryan deducts. The only proof he has is when McManus announces that Mom is going to be offering an art class, everyone should join, and Ryan gets hackled the fuck out of about being mommy’s boy.  
  
(He _is_ , of course, but anyone would be with Seamus as daddy dearest.)  
  
Then, after stewing on it late at night, he realises this might not be so bad. Yeah, there will be assholes causing shit — telling his mom to suck their dick, to show her tits, whatever the fuck else these brainless wastes of cells do — but he gets to spend more time with her. No more weekly visits where one hug, one kiss on the cheek, one second of hand-holding is allowed. And no more of the worst of it, where Cyril has to wait in the sidelines because he’s a _risk_ because fuckers don’t understand. Don’t get that Cyril carried out Ryan’s orders and and—  
  
And Ryan needs to breathe.  
  
He shares the pod with Miguel now. Took a lot of cajoling — to McManus and Miguel — but Miguel sleeps underneath him. Soft breaths lulling Ryan into sleep when he lets them. Still won’t let Ryan fuck him here. Too many eyes, he says, like he hasn’t already realised _everybody knows what's going on_. And nobody cares, not really, not more than they care about Keller and Beecher and they’re always dry humping in the fucking rec area.  
  
Ryan takes it, though. Takes every crumb. Is so damn excited when Miguel says he’s willing to sign up for the art class, too, he thinks he’s gonna burst. Then McManus says that yes, of course, Cyril can join. He’s not going to keep trying to tear them away from each other any way he knows how. They can see Mom _twice_ a week now. He could spend hours with Miguel that aren’t in supply closets or the infirmary when they both get shifted on.  
  
“Miguel,” he says, quiet. Then, louder: “Alvarez.”  
  
“Mmm?” Comes the non-committal reply.  
  
“You looking forward to this art class, to meeting my ma?”  
  
Miguel pokes his head up from his bunk, his hair is mused, his eyes hooded, and he’s so damn sexy Ryan wants to jump him then and there.  
  
“You sound like when Maritza first met my _mami_.”  
  
Ryan feels some jealousy at the words. Right, right down where he keeps his guilt and his fear and his penance. It twists in his gut and makes him need to close his eyes. Breathe. Then look at Miguel again and not let him picture Miguel fucking someone else.  
  
“So I’m excited,” Ryan says. “Doesn’t matter. This will be good, you’ll see.”  
  
“Yeah.” Miguel smiles and it lights up the whole pod. Lights up Ryan’s dull, dead heart. “It will.”


End file.
